Novak Djokovic said he is training as if he will play in the U.S. Open despite the fact that he can’t enter the country because he is unvaccinated against COVID-19. Christophe Ena/Associated Press
BELGRADE, Serbia — Novak Djokovic is holding out hope that he’ll be able to compete at the U.S. Open despite not being vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion said Saturday on his social media accounts that he’s been training as if he’ll play at Flushing Meadows when the last major of the year begins Aug. 29.
“I am preparing as if I will be allowed to compete, while I await to hear if there is any room for me to travel to US. Fingers crossed!” he wrote.
Although he’s been included on the U.S. Open entry list, the United States does not allow unvaccinated noncitizens to enter the country, which is why the Serb needed to sit out big events in Indian Wells, California, and Miami this season.
The 35-year-old Djokovic was able to play at Wimbledon, which he won for his 21st Grand Slam title, and earlier in the French Open, where he lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard has a men’s record 22 major singles titles.
After beating Nick Kyrgios in the Wimbledon final, Djokovic said he “would love” to enter the U.S. Open, but added: “I’m not planning to get vaccinated.”
Djokovic has won three championships at Flushing Meadows. His loss in the 2021 final to Daniil Medvedev prevented Djokovic from becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win a calendar-year Grand Slam.
Djokovic missed the Australian Open in January after being deported from that country over his vaccine status.
GENERALI OPEN: Third-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut cruised past wild card Filip Misolic 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Generali Open on Saturday in Kitzbuhel, Austria, to claim his 11th ATP title.
Bautista Agut lifted his second trophy this year after Doha in his 21st career final. It was only his second on clay after Stuttgart in 2014.
“It was a very long time since I won a title on clay,” the Spaniard said. “It’s very special for me, because I’ve done a lot of good work on this surface.”
Bautista Agut was dominant, breaking Misolic twice in each set.
POLAND OPEN: Fifth-seeded Caroline Garcia beat Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 6-2 in Warsaw, Poland to advance to her 12th career final, where she’ll face Ana Bogdan.
Garcia will seek her ninth career WTA title and second this year after winning the grass-court Bad Homburg Open. The Frenchwoman, who a day earlier ended top-ranked Iga Swiatek’s clay-court winning streak, broke her 10th-seeded Italian opponent four times to improve to 3-0 against her.
Bogdan reached her first career WTA final by defeating Kateryna Baindl of Ukraine 7-5, 7-5.
PRAGUE OPEN: Seventh-seeded Anastasia Potapova marched to her second WTA final of the season at the Prague Open after defeating Qiang Wang 6-3, 6-0.
The Russian who eliminated top-seeded Anett Kontaveit in the quarterfinals seeks her second WTA title after she won Istanbul in April. In the final, Potapova will meet eighth-seeded Marie Bouzkova who defeated teenager Linda Noskova 7-6 (4), 6-3 in an all-Czech semifinal.
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